Desiigner had a hit with “Panda,” which dropped in 2015 before it wound up on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo album.
Ye ended up signing the Brooklyn rapper, but 50 Cent had a chance to do so before that. He ended up passing, though, and explained why in an interview. [Jump to the 28:34 mark]
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“The n*gga came to me, what’s the n*gga’s name? He sounded like Future. Panda, panda, panda,” said 50 on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. “I met with him before he did the deal with Kanye and them … I had him at the office. I was like, ‘Yo, let me hear the other records you got.’ And he’s like ‘That’s it’ … And the sh*t was so hot that he had, I was struggling. But I was like, ‘Nah, I can’t give that n*gga that money. Let them give him whatever the f*ck they gonna give him.'”
50 definitely made the right call since Desiigner failed to match “Panda’s” success.
His 2016 song “Timmy Turner” got some traction, but it wasn’t enough to keep him on Ye’s GOOD Music imprint.
He was off the label by 2019 after demanding to be let go.